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      • Cheakamus Lake in Garibaldi Park
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      • Newt Lake & Ancient Cedars
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      • Russet Lake in Garibaldi Park
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      • Wedgemount Lake in Garibaldi Park
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  • Snow
      • Blueberry Trail Snowshoeing
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  • Run
      • Whistler Golf Course 5k(3.1 Mile)
      • Blueberry Hill 6k(3.7 Mile)
      • Lost Lake 6k(3.7 Mile)
      • Alta Lake 8k(5 Mile)
      • Fitzsimmons Creek 9k(5.6 Mile)
      • Alta Green Lost 15k(9.3 Mile)
  • Best
      • Best Whistler Hiking by Month
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      • Best Whistler Aerial Views
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          • Best Whistler Snowshoe Trails
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  • AtoZ
      • Ablation Zone
      • Accumulation Zone
      • Adit Lakes
      • Aiguille
      • Alpine Zone
      • Arborlith or Lithophyte
      • Arête
      • A River Runs Through It
      • Armchair Glacier
      • The Barrier
      • Battleship Islands
      • Bears
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      • Bergschrund or Schrund
      • Bivouac or Bivy
      • Blue Face House in Parkhurst
      • Bungee Bridge
      • Cairns & Inukshuks
      • Carter, Neal
      • Caterpillar D8
      • Caterpillar RD8
      • Chimney
      • Cirque or Cirque Lake
      • Cloudraker Skybridge
      • Coast Mountains
      • Col
      • Crevasse
      • Deadfall
      • Emerald Forest
      • Erratic or Glacier Erratic
      • The Fissile
      • Fitzsimmons Creek
      • Fitzsimmons Range
      • Fyles, Tom
      • Garibaldi Ranges
      • Garibaldi Volcanic Belt
      • Gemel or Inosculation
      • Glacier Window
      • Green Lake
      • Hoary Marmot
      • Krummholz
      • Moraine
      • Mount Garibaldi
      • Mount James Turner
      • Northair Mine
      • Nunatuk
      • Overlord Mountain & Glacier
      • Peak2Peak Gondola
      • Roundhouse Lodge
      • Rubble Creek
      • Spearhead Range
      • Tarn
      • The Table
      • Usnea or Old Man's Beard
      • Western Redcedar
  • Maps
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Adit Lakes

Black Tusk

Newt Lake

Brandywine Meadows

Logger's Lake

Northair Mine

Whistler Train Wreck

Joffre Lakes

Cirque Lake

Callaghan Lake

Wedgemount Lake

Wedgemount Lake

Black Tusk

Spectacular Whistler!

Whistler hiking is wonderful! Check out our Best Whistler Hiking by Month guides! WeRentGear.com rents tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, camp stoves, packs, complete kits and more!

Best Trails This Week!

Best This Week: Whistler Train Wreck and Parkhurst Ghost Town are easy, fun and dog friendly. Check out our May and June Whistler and Garibaldi Park guides here!

Russet Lake is a surreal little paradise that lays at the base of The Fissile. The Fissile is the strikingly bronze mountain visible from Whistler Village.  From the Village look into the distance at the Peak2Peak hanging between Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain and you will see The Fissile. Its pyramid shape in the distance perfectly separates the two mountains.

  • At least 5 amazing routes to this hidden paradise
  • The Fissile looms ominously over the lake
  • Overlord Glacier fills the valley below and across
  • Part of the Spearhead Traverse
  • Every direction you look is shockingly beautiful
  • Adit Lakes is a hidden world nearby
  • Scrambling routes up & beyond The Fissile!
  • Musical Bumps Trail to Russet is very beautiful
  • Russet Lake is not as beautiful as other lakes
  • The old 5k access road is inaccessible due to slide

Though Russet Lake is not terribly impressive in terms of size or colour, the valley around it is remarkably beautiful. The colours change from moment to moment in and extraordinary way. The distinctive colour of The Fissile and the stark grey of the mountains around contrast amazingly with the blue of the lake and green grass in the valley. So many different factors fill the place with colour.  There are several ways to get to hike Russet Lake.  The Singing Pass trail from the base of Whistler Mountain near the Whistler Gondola. The Musical Bumps trail that begins near the top of the Whistler Gondola.  The High Note trail that begins at the top of the Peak Chair on Whistler Mountain. There is an increasingly popular route that begins from Blackcomb Mountain.  And finally, a very infrequently hiked route from Cheakamus Lake that runs along Singing Creek. In short, the three ways to get to Russet Lake are 1. Musical Bumps (direct route and beautiful), 2. High Note trail (a bit longer but even more beautiful), and the Singing Pass trail (not as nice as the previous two and constantly uphill, but no expensive gondola charge).  All three routes are have signs and well established trails. None are very difficult with the exception of being long trails. Though each can be done in a day, 28 kilometres of hiking in one day is quite a long way.

Russet Lake Hiking Trail Map

Russet Lake is a great place to camp at the end of the lake with a beautiful stream that runs along the camping area. There are no tent platforms but over a dozen tent clearings.  There is a considerable amount of exploring available in the valley around Russet Lake. The Fissile is a difficult but very feasible hike from Russet Lake.  Below Russet Lake is a very accessible glacier as well as a bonanza of glacier formed landscape features, inviting hours of interesting exploration.  Above Russet Lake there is a beautiful snow covered ridge that commands incredible views all around and if you have the energy makes for a spectacular tent site.

Russet Lake Map v20

Russet Lake Sunset, BC Parks Garibaldi Provincial Park

Aerial View of The Fissile and Russet Lake

Musical Bumps Trail to Russet Lake

Moderately Challenging with Steep HillsTaking the Musical Bumps trail that begins at the Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler Mountain is arguably the best route to Russet Lake.  It is fairly direct(12.5 kilometres) to Russet Lake) and full of incredible views. Alpine forests, massive valleys, small alpine lakes, dramatic mountain views all around.  The trail has considerable elevation gain and loss though.  The trail is well marked with signs directing you along the Musical Bumps trail.  You won't see Russet Lake signs until you reach the trail junction at the Singing Pass trail.  This route is a very popular trail running route in Whistler.  From the Roundhouse Lodge to the Village is 24 kilometres, and much of it downhill.  To find the Russet Lake trailhead, take the Whistler Gondola up to the Roundhouse Lodge.  Walk out of the Gondola and past the Peak2Peak Gondola building, up a gravel slope about 50 metres.  On your left you will see a trailhead.

Russet Lake Musical Bumps Trail - Hike in Whistler

Whistler Mountain Russet Lake Map v20

More Russet Lake Hiking Info...

More Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking Maps!

Skookumchuck Hot Springs Maps

Skookumchuck Hot Springs(aka T'sek Hot Springs and St. Agnes Well), located two hours north of Whistler along the edge of the huge Lillooet River. The name Skookumchuck ...
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Brandywine Meadows Maps

Brandywine Meadows is a nice, relatively short hike to a massive flower filled valley high up in Callaghan Valley. Located 40 minutes south of Whistler, this tough and ...
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Alexander Falls Maps

Alexander Falls is a very impressive 43 metre/141 foot waterfall just 30 to 40 minutes south of Whistler in the Callaghan Valley. Open year-round and located just before ...
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Nairn Falls Maps

Nairn Falls is a wonderful, crashing and chaotic waterfall that surrounds you from the deluxe viewing platform that allows you to safely watch it from above.  The beautiful, green ...
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More Whistler Hiking Trail Maps

Amazing West Coast Trail Guide

Whistler & Garibaldi Park Glossary A to Z

Ablation Zone: the lower altitude region of a glacier where there is a net loss of ice mass due to melting, sublimation, evaporation, ice calving or ...
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The Coast Mountains run from the Yukon down to Vancouver along the west coast of British Columbia in a band that averages 300 kilometres wide(190 miles).  ...
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The Cordilleran Ice Sheet covered most of north-west North America for much of the last 2.6 million years.  At the Last Glacial Maximum during the Last ...
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When hiking to Parkhurst Ghost Town, the first area you will encounter after you cross the disintegrating bridge over Wedge Creek is the wye.  In railroad ...
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Bench: a flat section in steep terrain.  Characteristically narrow, flat or gently sloping with steep or vertical slopes on either side.  A bench can be ...
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Inosculation is the technical name for two or more trees that have fused together into a single bizarre looking tree. They are colloquially known as ...
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Porteau Cove is a beautiful little stop on the drive to or from Whistler. You will notice the lack of convenient washroom stops on the way to or from ...
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Whistler can be expensive.  Everything worth doing seems to cost a lot of money.  But if you step back from the noise and crowds you may spot some secret ...
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More Hike in Whistler Glossary

Free Camping Gear Delivery to Garibaldi Park

The Best Whistler & Garibaldi Park Hiking Trails!

Meager Hot Springs(aka: Meager Creek Hot Springs) is located 93 kilometres northwest of Whistler, was beautifully developed into gorgeous pools, with a caretaker and usage charge.  At its height of ...
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Russet Lake is a surreal little paradise that lays at the base of The Fissile, in Garibaldi Provincial Park. The Fissile is the strikingly bronze mountain visible from Whistler Village. From the Village ...
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Whistler has an absurd number of wonderful and free hiking trails and Parkhurst Ghost Town certainly ranks as the most unusual and interesting. Parkhurst was a little logging town perched on the edge of Green ...
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Black Tusk is the extraordinarily iconic and appropriately named mountain that can be seen from almost everywhere in Whistler. The massive black spire of crumbling rock juts out of the earth in an incredibly ...
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More Whistler Hiking Trails & Maps

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